Cable splicing device



June 26, 1962v v. E. RIBLE CABLE SPLICING DEVICE Filed Feb. e, 1061 7m.. .WWU

. W V W ATTORNEY.

United States Patent Office 3,040,402 Patented June 26, 1962 3,040,402 CABLE SPLICNG DEVICE Vincent E. Rible, 1320 Holly Lane, Spring Lake, NJ. Filed Feb. 6, 1961, Ser. No. 87,503 1 Claim. (Cl. 24-123) (Granted under Title 35, U.S. Code (1952), sec. 266) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by lor for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalty thereon.

'Ihe present invention relates to clamps and a cable or rope splicing device for use in connecting the ends of heavy rope, cable or the like, such as three ply manila or nylon rope.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide in novel form, a simple and eiiicient clamp for the purposes referred to, the same including a new and novelspreader used in conjunction with an expansible and contractile grip composed of interlaced wire strands that terminate in lock rings which cooperate with the spreader for the purposes intended.

The practice `of joining two ends of discrete ropes or cables by a short splice, or the making `of yan eye splice wherein one end of a rope is looped about itself, is conventionally accomplished by separating the strands of the individual cables to be spliced and lacing or tucking such strands together to form a secure juncture of the two sections of rope to be secured. The completion of such splices, that is by lacing, requires a considerable skill and furthermore is time consuming. While such splices can be made with manila or hemp ropes, it has been further found that considerable difliculty is encounterd in attempting to splice sections of nylon rope which has recently come into extensive use. The reason for such diiculty in splicing nylon rope lies in the fact that when such rope is separated into separate strands for lacing, the discrete strands tend `to unravel thereby making it extremely diiiicult to lace with other strands of nylon rope.

Another object of ths invention is to provide a cable splicing means that can be used by those having no skills in that art.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the clamping means when Aread in connection with `the following drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the novel spreader forming part of my invention;

FIG. 2 is a top View of the spreader;

FIG. 3 shows the manner in which the spreader of FIG. l is used in making a splice;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the gripping device used in conjunction with the spreader;

FIG. 5 shows a splice accomplished with the spreader and grip in locked engagement; and

FIG. 6 is a diagramma-tic end view of the assembled spl-ice of FIG. 5.

Referring to the drawing, there is shown in FIG. 1 the spreader, which is generally designated by lthe reference number 11, and which comprises a relatively short ilat rod-like body 13, the opposite `faces of which are separately grooved with series of obliquely disposed channels 15. The ends of the rod 13 terminate in identical hook members 17. Each of the hook members 17 comprises an extending widened flange-like portion and provided with notches 19 formed within the extended portion and adjacent to respective edges of said extended portion.

The clamp or gripping component of this invention is shown in FIG. 4 and is designated generally as 21. The body portion 23 of the grip 21 is similar to conventional gripping devices of the type in which strands of wire or other suitable material are woven into tubular form for longitudinal extension and contraction whereby the diameter will be reduced when extended and increased when contracted. The grip 21 differs from the conventional type of grip in being provided with discrete lock rings 25, one each of such ringsV being secured at each end of the body portion 23.

For the manner in which the spreader 11 and the grip 21 are utilized to accomplish a secure splice, attention is directed to FIGS. 3, 5 and 6 of the drawing. FIG. 3 shows the spreader 11 in position between the -two folds of the rope 27 wherein it can be seen the successive knobs formed by the rope strands of both foldsof the rope 27 fit snugly and interdigitate into the channels 15 on both faces of the spreader. FIG. 5 shows the completed splice, with the loop portion of the rope 27 not being shown, and with all the components in assembled position which is accomplished in the following menner.

The rope 27, in single elongated form is iirst threaded through the grip 21, which in its contracted form, as in FIG. 4. The free end of the rope is then also threaded lthrough the grip to form a loop, as shown in FIG. 3. At this time the spreader 11 is .placed between the Vfolds of the rope and spaced at any desired distance from the bend of the loop. The grip 21, still in contracted form is placed over the folded section of the rope within which the spreader 11 is coniined. The grip 21 is then extended and the hook members 17 of the spreader 11 are placed into separate engagement with the lock rings 25 of the grip 21 as shown in FIG. 5. In such elongated form, the diameter of the grip is substantially reduced throughout its length and in this position tightly grips the two folds of rope to formthe desired splice. Since the elongation of the grip 21 is held constant by the engagement of the hook members to the end lock rings of the grip, there is no possibility of any slackening of the grip to increaseits diameter and loosen the splice.

In the utiliz-ation of the splicing device herein described, -it will be apparent that ropes or cables of varying thickness will require a specific size spreader having channels to accommodate rope -of a certain thickness, and a grip having a maximum Alongitudinal stretch length, and resultant Esmall diameter, and lock rings of certain size to accommodate such sized rope.

While there has been described what is at present considered to be the preferred embodiment of this invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modilications may be made therein without departing from the invention, and it is, therefore, aimed in the appended claim to cover all such changes `and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

A cable splicing device comprising in combination a at bar having its opposite surface faces provided with ya series of obliquely disposed channels to position and confine the successive knobs formed by the strands of said cable when said bar is between adjacent folds of said cable, and wherein the discrete ends of said bar terminate in llanged extensions, and a grip of woven strands in tubular form that can be longitudinally extended to reduce the diameter of said grip and contracted to increase the diameter of said grip, said grip being provided with 1discrete lock rings at either end thereof that engage the ange portions of said bar when said grip is fully extended and in position over said folds of cable with said bar between said folds.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES APATENTS 1,257,981 Cole Mar. 5, 1918 1,596,818 Dowd Aug. 17, 1926 1,686,250 Page Oct. 2, 1928 1,994,674 Van Inwagen M-ar. 19, 1935 

